Philanthropists urged to go public about gifts

Miki Perkins

When businessman Graham Tuckwell and his wife Louise decided they wanted to donate $50 million to his alma mater, Australian National University, he was so uncertain how to go about it that he found himself googling the phrase "philanthropy and Australia".

"There were hardly any precedents, I had to talk to another philanthropist who was also very frustrated there was no blueprint for this," Mr Tuckwell told the philanthropy sector's conference at the Recital Centre in Melbourne on Tuesday.

Luckily he found instruction (navigating his way to the Philanthropy Australia website) and was urged to publicise the $50 million donation to encourage other wealthy donors and remove the secrecy around generosity.

Historically small and fiercely private, there are signs that the philanthropy movement in Australia has matured and the financially well-endowed are more comfortable publicising their largesse.

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Last month Melbourne billionaire Alex Waislitz said he would donate $50 million to charity and the Packer family announced a $200 million philanthropic fund. These followed a $3 billion charitable bequest from healthcare tycoon Paul Ramsay, who died in May.

Going public suited Mr Tuckwell, he wanted to promote the new scholarship program that he and his wife had spent many hours working with the university to develop.

And making the philanthropic donation made sense for their children too: "You love your kids and you want to do your best by them so the last thing you should do is give them a heap of money," he told the conference. "Everybody wants to achieve in their own right - by giving them a heap of money you're taking that away from them."

Mining magnate Andrew Forrest was inspired by the Tuckwell gift to donate $65 million to West Australian universities, having already committed to giving at least half of his family's wealth to charity during his lifetime.

A member of the conference audience asked Mr Forrest if he had encouraged fellow Australian billionaires like Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart to become involved in philanthropy.

He said he had spoken to them, but individuals who were investing in business and creating employment for others were already doing a very worthwhile thing.

"If you browbeat someone you might get $500,000 but if you leave the gate open ... you might get $50 million they give of their own volition," Mr Forrest said.